Jakarta – Indonesia's local television stations have been accused of airing "indecent elements" in programs during Ramadhan and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has asked them to stop it.

"During the first 10 days of the fasting month, we found that many of the programs still contained scantily clad performances, violence and supernatural elements that are incompatible with Islamic norms and shouldn't have been aired," MUI chairman Amidhan said Wednesday.

Amidhan was speaking at a press conference on TV programs monitoring with the Indonesian Broadcasting Committee (KPI), which said it would investigate the list of programs collected by the MUI and would act where necessary.

But Amidhan said, "Only 10 percent of (television) content (we monitored) could be considered educational. Therefore, we ask parents to be more selective about which programs they allow their children to watch."

The MUI listed more than 20 programs aired on almost all domestic stations, including sinetron local soap operas, music programs, popular local talk shows and Ramadhan specials.

The Ramadhan specials included performances, scenes or dialogues that would have a bad influence on the younger generation, the MUI said.

The high number of these "indecent programs" had reportedly not only stirred up concerns in Indonesia, but also in Malaysia, Amidhan said. "Malaysians are so fond of Indonesian's soap operas, they had been influencing their way of life."

Deputy chairwoman of KPI Fetty Fajriati Miftach said the commission would take strong measures against inappropriate programs. "We will examine the list made by the council, and if we find (legal violations)... we will send (TV stations) a notification letter, before reporting them to the police," she said.

The KPI said TV station management would be given up to one week to reply to as many as three separate letters. Fetty said if the programming continued despite warning letters, the police would be brought in.

Operators that violate the 2002 law on broadcasting could be sentenced to five years in prison and fined up to Rp 10 billion (US$1.09 million). Radio station operators could face five years in prison and fines up to Rp 1 billion.

Survey company AGB Nielsen conducted in May a survey which showed domestic programs were still a favorite for domestic audiences. The survey showed sinetron was no longer dominant. Between January and April this year, a decrease in the number of supernatural-themed programs was documented.

Fetty said the MUI's monitoring conducted during Ramadhan would continue to focus on TV operators.

"Television is the easiest media to access. It is available in almost every home in the country. If someone watches television more than four hours a day, in some ways it may change their behavior. For example, if someone watches programs containing violence, then violent behavior would emerge," she said.